So what’s it like being engaged?
It’s pretty amazing.
There’s so much love and celebration! All of your friends hug you. Your coworkers swoon. Your entire family lovingly fusses over you. I’m only three weeks in and I’m loving it. Of course none of this would be happening
without the guy. And, truly, none of
this would be happening without God choosing to bless his undeserving daughter
with an answering of prayer.
Having such a prayer answered is like…it’s like ordering
a steak*. But not just any steak! You order the best steak at the best
restaurant to be cooked by the best chef.
Ever. Seriously. Start salivating. The. Best. Steak.
Ever.
Except this chef, the best chef ever—the chef that you’ve
heard and read about—has kept you waiting.
You wait, and you wait, and you wait.
You begin to wait impatiently—so impatiently that you turn toward the
swinging double doors anticipating your meal with each swing.
Time passes. Minutes
to months, months turn to years, years turn to eons. Your stomach hurts, your attitude has gone
from excited to grumpy, anticipatory to aggravated. You begin to wonder if the chef lost your
order. Has he forgotten about you? Did he forget that you’re sitting at the
table, waiting? Why? Why is he making you wait? You gripe, complain, threaten to leave, but
don’t, because part of you still has hope that he’ll deliver. You wonder if you should’ve ordered the
salmon instead. Or maybe the grilled
chicken.
Hmph.
Slouched over the table, obviously irritable, you play
with your silverware. There are only
crumbs left in the bread basket.
But just as it seems like you’ve lost all hope, out comes
what you’ve been waiting for—the most delicious steak ever. In fact, the chef is personally delivering it
to you. On the table he sits it. Buttery, savory, melt-in-your mouth—it’s perfect. You take one bite and suddenly it seems like
the hours you waited were but merely minutes.
The chef stands humbly, readily awaiting feedback.
“…so?” he asks curiously.
You nod, and somehow manage to speak through chewing, “Chef…it…really
is…amazing…but what…took…you…so long?”
He smiles, thoughtfully.
“Special marinating.”
You want to high five him, but you just nod, shamed by
your previously ungrateful demeanor. More
grateful now than you could have imagined, you thank him genuinely. In some way, the waiting for the steak made
you appreciate it all the more. Knowing
that the chef took special care of you makes it all the better. And after all that complaining, after all
that waiting—you know he was doing it for you.
See here, child of God, you are at the greatest
restaurant ever with the greatest chef ever.
Why would a chef, who loves what He does and, more importantly, loves
who He does it for, dare disappoint?
O Lord, all my longing is before
you; my sighing is not hidden from you. Psalm 38:9
He knows exactly what you want. Truth be told, He knows more of what you want
than you even know, because He created you.
Of course my example of the skilled chef fails in many
ways in comparison. We by no way give
orders to God or expect Him to serve us.
But we do have a loving, merciful God Who loves to spoil His beloved
children.
I love that I didn’t settle.
I love that I waited on God—even if it was a painful
wait.
I love the man for whom He made me wait.
But for every deep heartbeat that booms for Trace, my
heart grows even stronger for God. To
know He gave, to love when He doesn’t have to love us, to bless us when we have
little or no faith…
One of my favorite stories is of the church
praying for Peter to get out of prison.
Well, an angel sent by God gets him out of prison, he shows up to where the
church body is, and they don’t believe it’s true—even though it’s exactly for what
they’ve been praying! That’s just how we
are. We have actual little faith in God’s
ability or desire to answer our prayers.
Got news for you, dear heart. Your prayers ain’t fallin’ on deaf ears. God hears every prayer, spoken and
unspoken. However, should you let your
heart be deflated by the passing of the time, no worries. God’s eventual answered prayer will be like
helium and your once weak heart will float upon the knowing that God has never,
not once, forgotten you.
* Steak is relative. It isn’t necessarily marriage. It’s whatever prayer means the most you.
